News and notes from each week of NASCAR racing using a Las Vegas oddsmaking perspective

Friday, October 7, 2011

Driver Chassis Selections for Kansas Hollywood Casino 400

Note: Not all teams list their selections in PR Release

Keselowski using Michigan chassis instead of this winner from Kansas

#1-Jamie McMurray: Crew Chief Kevin "Bono" Manion and the #1 Bass Pro Shops / Artic Cat team will bring chassis #1106 to Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400. This chassis has been used twice so far this season at Kansas in June and Atlanta in September.

#2-Brad Keselowski: and the #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team will race chassis PRS-753 during Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. Keselowski last raced this chassis to a third-place finish at Michigan in August. Keselowski picked up his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory as a member of Penske Racing in the STP 400 at Kansas on June 5. The featured tag line on the bumper of the "Blue Deuce" this weekend at Kansas will be "Have At It, Brad." With his aggressive driving style, Keselowski has embodied NASCAR's "Have at it, Boys" mantra.

#5-Mark Martin: crew chief Lance McGrew has chosen Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-679 for Sunday's race at Kansas. Martin most recently finished ninth with this chassis at Chicagoland Speedway and also posted an eighth-place finish with it at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July.

#9-Marcos Ambrose: The #9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 784 for the 400.5-mile event at Kansas Speedway. This DEWALT Ford Fusion has been run previously this season at Michigan. Australian Word of the Week: Polly = Politician.

Could it be 3 wins in first 4 Chase races? He's got the LV car.

#14-Tony Stewart: Chassis No. 14-591 debuted in May 2010 in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. It qualified 26th and finished 15th in its maiden race. It saw extensive wind-tunnel time before returning to action in late July for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. There, it qualified 15th and a savvy two-tire pit call on the team's final stop allowed it to rally to a fifth-place finish. Chassis No. 14-591 spent the rest of the 2010 season as a backup, and in the offseason, it received a new body and logged many hours in the wind tunnel. The Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas was its third career start and first of 2011 finishing 2nd. Its next start came in May's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, where it was poised to finish in the top-10 until engine woes late in the race dropped it to a 17th-place finish. Chassis No. 14-591's next outing came in a test July 9 at Kentucky. It returned to racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where after starting 20th, rallied to an impressive third-place finish. The Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas will mark Chassis No. 14-591's sixth career start and fourth this season.

#17-Matt Kenseth: will run primary chassis RK-787 which last run at Atlanta.

#18-Kyle Busch: Chassis No. 326 will make its second-ever start in Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. This chassis made its debut in the first race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup last month at Chicago. After qualifying a solid ninth and running within the top-10 all race long, Busch ran out of gas with just two laps remaining, forcing him to come to pit road for a splash of gas and led to a disappointing 22nd-place finish.

#22-Kurt Busch and his Steve Addington-led Penske Racing "Double-Deuce" team will be racing their "PRS-757" Shell-Pennzoil Dodge this weekend at Kansas. This chassis has been raced only once before; in the July 31 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Busch qualified fourth in this car, ran in the top 10 most of the race, but was caught up in an incident with 40 laps remaining and relegated to a 21st-place finish. "This is a sister car to our '758' that we won Dover with last weekend," said crew chief Addington. "Since the last time out, we've gone back and completely redone this car with our latest stuff. It'll be a good car for Kansas and we can't wait to get back out there. We're heading in there with the attitude that we have some unfinished business to take care of this time around."

#27-Paul Menard will pilot Chassis No. 379 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This is a brand new No. 27 Schrock/Menards Chevy that will turn its first laps during opening practice on Friday at Kansas Speedway.

#29-Kevin Harvick: and Budweiser Chevy team will race chassis No. 378 from the Richard Childress Racing NSCS stable. Harvick utilized this car at Chicagoland Speedway to earn a second-place finish last month.

#31-Jeff Burton will pilot chassis No. 367 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This Caterpillar Chevrolet is a recent addition to the fleet and ran for the first time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July where Burton started 13th and finished 35th after facing electrical issues in the closing laps. It later ran at Atlanta Motor Speedway in September, where Burton started 27th and climbed through the field to post a 13th-place finish.

#33-Clint Bowyer: will pilot chassis No. 371 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable this weekend. This Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet Impala, built new last month, was utilized at Chicagoland Speedway in September when Bowyer drove it to a top-10 finish of seventh after starting 21st.

#36-Dave Blaney run the No. 802 chassis this weekend in the Hollywood Casino 400. The Golden Corral team last ran chassis No. 802 at Chicago, where Blaney started 39th and finished 33rd. The team also ran No. 802 at Phoenix as a backup, Las Vegas , Bristol Motor in March and August, and Charlotte Motor Speedway this season.

Newman is using his fifth-place Michigan chassis (Getty)

#39-Ryan Newman Chassis No. 39-677 will be the fourth start for Chassis No. 39-677 this season and the first start for the chassis at Kansas. The chassis made its first start in July at the Indianapolis, where Newman started 23rd and finished 12th. The next start for Chassis 39-677 was in August at Michigan, where Newman started third and finished fifth. The last on-track appearance for this chassis came in September at Chicago, where Newman started fourth and led 18 laps en route to an eighth-place result.

#42-Juan Pablo Montoya: crew chief Jim Pohlman and the #42 Target will be bringing chassis #1107 to Kansas Speedway this weekend. This will be only the second time that this car has hit the track this season after starting seventh and finishing 28th in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July.

#43-A.J. Allmendinger: The #43 Richard Petty Motorsports team has prepared chassis No. 742 for this weekend's event at Kansas Speedway. This Best Buy Ford has been run previously this season at California, Charlotte, (Sprint Showdown) Kentucky and Michigan.

#48-Jimmie Johnson: will drive chassis No. 681 in Sunday's race. He crossed the line 10th in that chassis at Chicagoland Speedway in September. Johnson finished second in backup chassis No. 650 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in September.

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Crew chief Steve Letarte and the #88 crew will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-676. Earnhardt most recently raced this chassis at Michigan International Speedway in August to a 14th-place finish.

#99-Carl Edwards the #99 Aflac team will be bringing chassis RK-732 to Kansas. This car most recently raced at Pocono in August where Edwards finished seventh.

2016 Rundown· Four wins, 17 top fives, 24 top 10s,· Led 1378 laps· Average Finish of 11.6Homestead-Miami Speedway Outlook:· One win, two top fives, four top 10s· Average finish of 21.091, 23rd-best· Average Running Position of 14.792, 13th-best· Driver Rating of 95.5, eighth-best· 1962 Laps in the Top 15 (66.8), eighth-most· 447 Quality Passes, 10th-most